Cementing vibrator



All@ 15, 1967 L E. WILSEY 3,335,801 v CEMENTING VIBRATOR Filed Dec. 18, 1964 5a I 5@ 54 521 n50 ju" J I" II 'l a II I I q 6o I Y f v :j ,f ,I N30 l f y I 42W" 4? Plas Il I| "5,31: LAWRENCE E. wILsEY INVENTOR I BY I FIG. l 6A/ ff AGENT I 29 Je United States Patent O 3,335,801 CEMENTING VIBRATOR Lawrence E. Wilsey, P.O. Box 854, Stillwater, Okla. 74074 Filed Dec. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 419,413 7 Claims. (Cl. 166-177) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A down hole well pipe receiving cylindrical eccentric frame .and bearing supported body is vibratorially rotated by fluid pumped and guided downwardly through a radially outward and downwardly directed iluid course passing through the body.

The present invention relates to cementing oil wells and more particularly to a casing vibrator.

In drilling and equipping oil wells it is conventional practice to lower casing into the borehole to a selected depth and pump fluid -cement down the casing and upwardly around the periphery of the casing within the borehole, to anchor the casing and seal off porous or iluid producing earth strata. Fluids, produced by the strata to be sealed oil, air trapped within the cement, mud or other impurities within the borehole sometimes form channels in the fluid cement resulting in poor or unsatisfactory compacting of the cement and a sealing contact between the outer wall of the casing and the wall of the borehole.

The prior art reveals a number of pipe or casing vibra- -tors for compacting the cement while in a tluid state between the periphery of the casing and the borehole wall. Most of these devices shown by the prior art employ a motor driven casing vibrating eccentric which necessitates the use of an electric line and the removal of the device after the casing vibrating action.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a pipe or casing vibrator which will compact fluid cement during the application of cement to the well and after the desired quantity of cement has been pumped into the well.

Another important object is the provision of a casing vibrator which is fluid operated.

Another object is the provision of a device of this class which is principally formed of drillable materials and may therefore be left in the hole and drilled-up when the cement plug is drilled.

A further object is to provide a casing vibrator which may be pumped downwardly into the casing of a well as the fluid cement is applied and wherein the device is supported in operating position at the depending end portion of the casing, by a conventional cementing oat collar or the like.

The present invention accomplishes these .and other objects -by mounting an elongated cylindrical eccentric -body between two support members and providing a uid channel through the body arranged to impart rotation to the body by the downward passage of fluid.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the .accompanying single sheet of drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross-sectional View of the device within the fragment of a borehole;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1; and,

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross-sectional View taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in those ligures of the drawings in which they occur.

3,335,801 Patented Aug. 15, 1967 ICC In the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates a fragmentary portion of casing within .a borehole 12 having lluid cement 14 interposed between the casing and borehole wall. The depending end portion of the casing is connected with a conventional cementing oat collar or shoe 16.

The numeral 2t) indicates the device, as a whole, comprising a centrally bored wiper guide 212, a supporting frame 24 and a rotating eccentric `body 26 interposed between the guide and supporting frame. The body 2'6 is substantially cylindrical in general configuration and is diametrically slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the pipe 10 to be vibrated, so that the entire device may slide freely downward through the casing. One longitudinal half of the body 26 is formed of solid material, as is indicated at 27, while the opposite half or portion is hollow forming a chamber 28 which is defined by an outer side wall 30 and upper and lower end walls 29 and 31, respectively. A plurality of circumferentially spacedapart friction reducing rollers 32 are journaled by the outer surfaceand wall of the body adjacent its respective ends for the purposes which will presently be apparent.

The bottom end of the body 26 is provided with a depending portion 33 forming a ilat bearing surface 34 normal to the longitudinal axis of the body which rests on a spherical bearing or ball 36 rigidly secured, as by welding, to a plurality, preferably three, legs 38 forming the frame 24. A cylindrical wall 40, secured to the depending end 31 of the body 26, is secured, by its depending end edge surface, to a disk-like washer 42 having an enlarged axial opening 44 surrounding the bearing 36. A rin-g 46 surrounds and is secured to the bearing 36 below its horizontal diametric center line adjacent the upper surface of the end plate or washer 42 for the purposes `which will presently be described.

The upper end portion of the body 26, as viewed in FIG. 1, is provided with a circumferential upstanding lip or wall 50 spaced inwardly of its periphery a selected distance for the purposes to be described hereinbelow.

A concentric recess, indicated at 52, is formed in the surface of the upper end 29 of the body. A cage or socket 54 is coaxially connected to the surface of the body forming the bottom of the recess 52. The cage 54 nests the ball end 56 of a stud bolt having a shank 58.

A tube 60 projects through the upper end wall 29 of thejbody through a suitable aperture, in off set relation with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body, as shown in FIG. 2. The tube 60 extends arcuately downward through the open compartment 2,8 along the inner 4surface of the wall 30 and opens through the bottom wall through an aperture 62. A frangible disk or diaphragm 63 normally closes the depending end of the tube 60.

The depending end of the guide 22 is provided with a pair Vof spaced-apart concentric depending walls 64 and 66 -which loosely receive the upstanding wall 50 therebetween. The depending end portion of the guide is provided with a concentric recess 68 defined, at its inner upward limit, by a web 7l). The bolt shank 58, projects coaxially through the web 70 and is secured thereto by a nut and washers 72. The web 70 is provided with a plurality of fluid passage ports or apertures 74 to provide communication between the bore of the guide and recess `68. The recess 68 in the guide and the recess 52 in the body, in communication with the innermost depending wall 66 of the guide, thus form a fluid chamber constantly in communication with the upwardly open end of the tube 60. The inner surface of the uppermost end portion of the guide is beveled, as at 76, to provide an enlarged upper end opening. A plurality of upwardly directed outstanding circumferential lips or ilanges 78 seal with the inner wall of the casing y and maintain the guide coaxial with respect to the casing for the purposes presently explained.

Operation In operation the device is installed within the casing 10, having a float collar or shoe 16, by pumping it downwardly as the eementitious mixture 14 is applied to the well. The legs 38 of the frame 24 contact the upper surface of the oat collar 1-6. The guide flaps 73 are in sealing contact with the inner surface of the casing and pump pressure applied to the fluid cement within the casing ruptures the diaphragm 63 to open the tube 60 to permit passage of the cement therethrough. Continued pump pressure applied to the fluid cement within the casing forces the iluid cement through the tu'be 60. The fluid forced through the downward open end of the tube 60 imparts an equal and opposite force to the body 26 which rotates the latter. The rotating body is supported by contact with the bearing 36 and the ball 54 and socket 56 at its upper end permits rotation of the body independently of the frame 24 and guide 22. The friction reducing rollers 32 Contact the inner wall surface of the casing 10 while the body 26 is rotating. The body 26 may move out of axial alignment with respect to the vertical axis of the casing 10 and supporting frame 24 and guide 22 to cause a vibratory bumping or shaking action on the casing 10 by the unbalanced condition of the eccentric body 26. Such vibratory movement applied to the casing moves the latter and imparts a similar vibrating motion to the cement 14 while in a uid state surrounding the casing which tends to remove the drilling ymud wall-cake and to reduce the cement to a compacted state by arresting gravitational separation and segregation of the cementing `materials and the borehole fluids it replaces. After the cementing operation is completed, the tool remains in the casing and is drilled up with the hardened or set cement and material forming the ioat collar or shoe 16.

While fluid lcement has been illustrated and described, it seems obvious that other pumpable materials may be used with equal eiiiciency of operation of the device.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to some change or alteration without defeating its practicability, and I therefore do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein, further than I am limited by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A well pipe vibrating apparatus, comprising: a substantially cylindrical eccentric body closely received within a well pipe, said body having a uid course therethrough; a .frame comprising a plurality of supporting legs; a bearing interconnecting said legs and supporting said body; and a luid guide pivotally connected coaxially with the end of said body opposite said frame and sealing with the inner wall surface of the well pipe permitting rotation of said body independently of said guide when fluid is forced through said uid course.

2. Structure as specified in claim 1 in which said body includes a hollow compartment dened by an outer wall and in which the fluid course is formed by an open ended tube extending downwardly, from the central upper end portion of said body, in an arcuate inner circumferential direction along the inner surface of said wall, said tube terminating through the lower end portion of said body.

3. A well pipe vibrating apparatus, comprising: a substantially cylindrical eccentric body adapted to be closely received by and lowered into a well pipe; frame means comprising a plurality of supporting legs positioned below said body; tiuid guide means positioned above said body coaxial with respect to said well pipe; bearing means connecting said body to said frame means and said guide means, said bearing means permitting lateral movement of the longitudinal axis of said body with respect to the longitudinal axis of the well pipe; and means for rotating said body.

4. Structure as specied in claim 3 in which said fluid guide means comprises a centrally bored member having an apertured web intersecting the bore thereof, and having circumferential outstanding iiaps sealin-g with the inner wall of the well pipe.

5. Structure as specied in claim 4 in which the Ibearing Vmeans comprises: a ball secured to said supporting legs an-d slidably contacting the depending end surface of said body; a ball cage centrally secured to the upper end surface of said body; and a ball stud having a ball end portion pivotally received within said ball cage and having an opposite shank end portion coaxially connected to said web.

`6. Structure as specified in claim 5 in which one longitudinal side portion of said body is hollow forming a compartment defined by an outer wall; and in which the last mentioned means includes a tube disposed within the hollow portion of said body and forming a iluid course, said tube extending, from the upper central end portion of said body, arcuately downward along the inner circumferential limit of said outer wall and terminating through the lowermost end of said body in offset relation with respect to the vertical axis of said body; and an upstandin-g wall -on the upper end portion of said body forming a liuid receiving compartment communicating with the bore of said uid guide means and the upper end of said tube.

7. A vibrating apparatus adapted to be lowered into the casing of a well for vibrating said casing, comprising: an elongated substantially cylindrical body, one longitudinal side portion of said body being hollow to form an imbalance when said body is rotated about its longitudinal axis; a supporting frame; a bearing connected with said frame and movably contacting the depending end portion of said body; a centrally bored uid guide positioned adjacent the upper end of said body; a ball stud member coaxially connected, at one end, to said guide and pivotally connected coaxially, at its other end, to said body; and an open ended tube in communication with the respective end surfaces of said body and extending through the hollow portion of said body in an arcuate inner circumferential direction, whereby fluid pumped through said guide and said tube, under pressure, imparts a rotative motion to said body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,072,982 3/1937 Dale 166-23 2,148,722 2/1939 Baily 166-23 X 2,187,088 1/1940 Malan 166-177 2,360,803 10/1944 Steuerman 175-55 X 2,785,757 3/1957 Middleton 166-177 X 3,049,185 8/1962 Herbold l66-177 X 3,076,513 2/1963 Heaphy 175-55 X 3,163,240 12/1964 Bodine 175-56 CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

R. E. FAVREAU, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A WELL PIPE VIBRATING APPARATUS, COMPRISING: A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL ECCENTRIC BODY CLOSELY RECEIVED WITHIN A WELL PIPE, SAID BODY HAVING A FLUID COURSE THERETHROUGH; A FRAME COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SUPPORTING LEGS; A BEARING INTERCONNECTING SAID LEGS AND SUPPORTING SAID BODY; AND A FLUID GUIDE PIVOTALLY CONNECTED COAXIALLY WITH THE END OF SAID BODY OPPOSITE SAID FRAME AND SEALING WITH 